The Raiders remain level-headed… and await Patriot Sunday

-Beat the Jets, but then immediately have to contemplate Tom Brady coming to town… that might be the best way for this to come down for the Raiders.

Any kind of respectable outcome–probably even a close, spirited loss–will keep the Raiders moving forward, on the path to turning into one of the real good teams in the AFC.

A win just about guarantees that status, of course, and yes, I know getting respect is on the minds of the team and its fans.

I usually think that stuff is overblown; WIN and it doesn’t matter who respects you or not, lose and you shouldn’t gain respect, so why worry about it too much?

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But I do get that the Raiders have been down for so long, it will be good for everybody involved in Al Davis’ sphere of influence for the Raiders to be re-embraced as a banner franchise for the first time since 2002.

Still, they can’t get too far in front of themselves, especially with the Patriots next up.

That’s good for them.

In the past eight seasons, after the brief bursts of mini-success the Raiders have enjoyed, they habitually got a little big-headed, and just as habitually got their big heads handed to them in the next week.

I don’t think that will happen this time. We don’t know for sure, but if the Raiders lose, I don’t think it’ll be because they started congratulating themselves too soon.

And maybe they won’t lose.

—–the column (UNEDITED version)/

It feels like a new day in Raidersland, and Rolando McClain was the perfect player to christen the mood on Monday.

A day after one of the Raiders’ strongest, loudest performances in years, McClain ambled into the locker room and chatted with the media—all while carrying his infant son in a portable car seat.

Just win + baby.

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“Don’t think he likes the media, either,” McClain said as his son fussed a bit.

McClain said this with a chuckle, a sly reference to the middle linebacker’s own usual public reticence.

Hey, everything’s cheerier when the Raiders are 2-1 and coming off of a 34-24 home crunching of the New York Jets.

Next up at the Coliseum: The New England Patriots on Sunday, and if the Raiders are ever going to carry the momentum and powerful buzz for one week to another, this should be it.

“I think they feel what we feel,” McClain said of the Coliseum crowd. “We feel like we’re turning this Raider program around and I think they feel the same thing.”

Pointedly, there was no giddiness displayed around Raiders HQ on Monday—at least none within my sight.

They aren’t quite used to dealing with raised expectations and general praise from all quarters. Of course, the Raiders haven’t deserved any of that lately.

So the relatively sober mood on Monday was important and notable.

It helps that the prospect of facing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has a way of focusing anybody’s concentration, while raising some shivers.

“Huge game–one of the best teams in the league and they’ve been a premiere team in the league for a while,” McClain said.

“Just another way to measure where we are right now. Just go out and compete against these guys…

“We’ve still got a long ways to go, but we’re going to keep pushing, keep working.”

And it definitely helps that McClain and other team leaders are following the example of coach Hue Jackson, who was more subdued Monday than normal.

Jackson said he was tired from studying video on the Patriots, but I suspect there was also a tactical purpose to his low-key manner.

“Can’t celebrate,” Jackson said. “That one’s over with. On to the next one. There’s another team from the AFC East that comes to town that’s a very good football team.”

Jackson, as always, expressed optimism about the record, but made sure to repeat that nothing is guaranteed from here.

“It’s still so early in this process,” Jackson said, “but I think our players are starting to understand what it takes to become a really, really good football team.”

Since I asked Jackson the same question after a loss last week, I figured it would only be fair to ask him what kind of feedback he has gotten from Al Davis lately.

“His whole passion is for this team to be the best it can be,” Jackson said. “And at the end of the day, as I told you, this job is about winning and losing.

“And so I would think he’s very excited.”

Has Al expressed that to you, Hue?

“Well, me and him… we don’t talk about expressing our feelings,” Jackson said. “We really talk about what’s best for the team.”

What’s best for the Raiders? To see Darren McFadden suddenly turn into one of the most explosive players in the league. To watch Jason Campbell play efficient, winning quarterback.

To unveil rookie Denarius Moore as a rising playmaker. To nod at the stalwart play of once-suspect the offensive line.

To acknowledge that the Raiders defense, while giving up too many yards, has made enough plays at the end of the two victories.

“We know what we have here,” rookie offensive lineman Stefan Wisniewski. “It’s just a matter of trying to get everyone else to see that…

“We’ve got a lot of good things going on here.”

To fit Jackson’s themes, the biggest part of Sunday’s victory was showing that the Raiders could bounce back after blowing the big lead in Buffalo two Sundays ago.

That clarion call still resonated on Monday.

“It was still in the back of our minds–what happened in Buffalo,” McClain said. “And we won’t forget it, we didn’t forget it. We won’t forget it for a while. It was still fresh in our mind.

“It’s your job to report on what we did. And we wanted to quiet the critics, saying we can’t finish in the second half. We just tried to play a good second half.”

There are 13 more games to play, with a lot more chances to play wonderfully… or to mess it up.

It starts with New England and Brady on Sunday. That’s why Monday wasn’t the time for Raiders celebrations. It was a time for weariness, wariness, pride and not so much noise.

Tim Kawakami

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So how much do you want to bet that the Campbell to Heyward-Bey bomb at the end of the game that came out of nowhere was dialed up from upstairs?
And tell McClain to stop busting out his WWF power slams. You don’t get extra style points or credit for a tackle and a half for those. nor do they make up for the missed tackles, getting walled off and all the other stuff he’s so far been known for. I swear, that’s like the third or fourth time he’s done that since being on the Raiders. Why even open yourself up for a possible flag…

Captiv8

Wow, way too many Raider writing’s from Kawakami, go back to covering the Gold Rush you are gonna jinx to the team.